Ethiopia accuses Egypt of harboring groups targeting its stability

Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said Egypt is harboring terrorist groups that seek to destabilize the country's stability, which affects the relations between the two countries.

He added, in a television interview, that they demanded the Egyptian government to take appropriate action regarding the Ethiopian terrorist groups that receive support from Egyptian institutions, pointing out that his country's relations with Arabs are well-established and powerful since the days of Prophet Muhammad.

For her part, Ambassador Mona Omar, former Assistant foreign minister for African Affairs, said that these accusations are false and based on no real evidence, stressing that Egypt does not need to comment or defend itself, because it does not interfere in the internal affairs of any country.

“When I was in my post we had instructions not to communicate, not even listen, to any groups involved in acts of violence in the African continent,” Omar said in statements to Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Ethiopian communications minister Getachew Reda has said that there Eritrean and Egyptian groups contributing to igniting issues in his country, which led to the declaration of a state of emergency; but the Egyptian Foreign Ministry affirmed Egypt's respect for the full sovereignty of Ethiopia and non-interference in its internal affairs.

Ethiopia summoned Egypt's Ambassador to Addis Ababa, Abu Bakr Hanafy, in October, over a video clip published by Associated Press that appeared to show an Egyptian national with members of the Oromo Liberation Front.

The Oromo Liberation Front, which claims to represent the interests of the Oromo ethnic group, is banned by the Ethiopian government.